The high crime rate and changes occurring within the family The high crime rate and changes occurring within the family have typically been studied separately. Another factor hampering research on crime and the family has been the absence of a conceptual framework within which to think about the issue. However, studies of the relationship between crime and the family are important because of preliminary evidence suggesting a high level of involvement in crime in American families and the need for practical approaches to crime prevention and victim assistance. The growing body of work on victimology has supplemented the previous focus on the offender and permits a dual focus in which family crime is classified both in terms of the victim and in terms of the perpetrator. In analyzing family crime, any act that occurs within the family is regarded as a crime if that same act is regarded as a crime when the parties are not related. However, this definition does not cover all cases. In addition, this approach, while useful for analytical purposes, is not necessarily appropriate from the point of view of families, the criminal justice system, and society as a whole. However, cross-tabulating the 3 aspects of family crime with the 5 analytical issues that need to be understood shows that 15 separate but related issues exist. These categories form the basis of the organization of the remaining chapters in the book. Figures and 18 references are listed. For the full volume, see NCJ 98873.